Hall of Fame inductee Wolff still going strong at 87

At age 87, Bob Wolff is getting long-awaited recognition tomorrow night by getting inducted into the broadcast wing of the National Basketball Hall of Fame. Most men his age are retired or no longer with us, but Wolff — the first broadcast to handle the play-by-play for the championships of all four major sports — is still working full-time, as a reporter for News 12 Long Island.

“I feel so blessed that I’m doing this,” Wolff said yesterday by phone. “I wake up about 6, 6:30 every morning, and what wakes me up is an idea I want to write, a cause I want to advocate, something that I want to get off my chest.

“The big thing is, I’ve got a chance to do it. I’m still on the air, TV and radio, still doing as much as I’ve ever done in my life. I’ve got that chance to do it rather than sitting in front of my TV or radio and saying, ‘What did he say this,’ or ‘Or can you make that up.” It’s like a privilege, and I love to do it. I love the fact is, as small as my voice is, I can have an effect. If nothing else, for me, it’s therapeutic.”

After a couple of close calls, Wolff finally got the call in July that he was being inducted with David Dupree, a longtime USA Today writer, with the Curt Gowdy Award for contributions to basketball as media members.

“When I first heard the news that I was going in, somebody said, ‘Bob, your time has come,’ ” said Wolff, who was inducted into the broadcast wing of baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1995. “I thought they meant my life. It came as a shock. Twice before I had gotten a letter from the Hall of Fame, saying I was one of the two finalists for this award. One year (2000) Hubie Brown got it, who I worked with some years ago, and another year (2001) Dick Stockton got it. Dick’s a good man. I applaud the selection. That was the last time I had given any thought to it.”